


Gabriel

by Duck_Life



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 19:36:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14362194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: Bex comes home briefly.





	Gabriel

**2009**

Bex clambers up the ladder into Andi Shack, admiring the sign her dad painted recently. It’s nice, that Andi has a place like this. This is the kind of thing Bex would never have been able to give her. Not on her own, not at 18. 

She spots Andi’s little head bent down over her workbench, studiously coloring a drawing. “Hey, Andiman,” Bex says, surprised how dry her throat is. She coughs and tries again. “Andi—”

“Bex!” Andi cheers, tossing her crayons aside and bounding across the treehouse to her. Her face is still pudgy with little-kid roundness and her eyes are wide and bright. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“Yeah, didn’t want Mom and Dad to know,” she says, swinging her legs up and all the way into Andi Shack. It smells like a hardware store and one wall is covered with what looks like scrapbook paper. “I parked a couple blocks away.” 

“Why?” Andi says, cocking her head to the side. Jeez, Bex forgot how  _ sweet _ she was. 

“Just don’t want to deal with them right now,” she says, giving herself a moment to take it all in— the shack, Andi, home. And then she tugs Andi toward her and wraps her in a tight hug, holding her close and warm and tucking Andi’s head against her shoulder. “Andi, Andi. I love you so much.”

Sitting there with her arms wrapped around Andi, she finally feels safe— and guilty. How many scraped knees has she missed? How many bad dreams? How many bullies? How many times has Andi been sad and scared and needed her there to make her feel safe? 

“I love you too,” Andi says, wriggling out of Bex’s grasp. She’s little but she’s smart, and she notices that Bex isn’t exactly her energetic self. “What’s wrong?” 

Bex sighs. She just wanted to see Andi, to know that she was okay. She didn’t want to get into the drama of the past few months, and especially not with her daughter. “I was being bullied,” she says carefully, trying to say it in words Andi would understand. “I was being bullied by a boy. But he’s gone now, he’s not gonna bother me anymore.” 

Andi tugs at the cuff of Bex’s sleeve, pushes it back to reveal a fading bruise near Bex’s wrist. Bex quickly pulls the sleeve back down. “No, no, Andi, don’t worry about that. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” She blinks away tears, refocuses. “Look at you, you’re getting so big! You’re gonna be taller than me soon.” 

“No,” Andi says doubtfully, shaking her head in exaggerated movements. “I’m still small.”

“Well, you’ve got a lot of growing to do,” Bex says, ruffling her hair. “Wish I were here for more of it.” She’s still too much of a rolling stone. If she stays in one place then everything gets too loud, too close, too real. Easier to run. Easier to keep her distance. 

“Will you be here for my birthday?”

“Andi!” Bex’s father’s voice cuts through the backyard. “Who are you talking to up there?”

Bex puts a finger to her lips. Andi picks up on it. “My imaginary friend Rosie,” she says easily. 

Dad doesn’t even question it. “Alright, well, it’s time for you and Rosie to come in for dinner.” 

Andi’s little eyebrows quirk up as she looks at Bex. “You can’t come to dinner?”

Bex shakes her head. She’s not ready to deal with Mom and Dad, not tonight. “I’ll come back real soon,” she swears. “And I’ll actually stick around longer. I promise.” 

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart,” Bex says, drawing an X over herself with her finger. She pulls Andi close and kisses her on the forehead, and ruffles her hair one more time for good measure. Andi hugs her back and then, surprising Bex, she takes her hand and kisses her arm, where she spotted the bruise. 

“I hope it gets better soon,” she says. 

“Aw, Andi,” Bex says. “It’s already better.” 

  
  



End file.
